William Beall
William Nelson Rector Beall (March 20, 1825 – July 25, 1883) was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He is most noted for his supply efforts on behalf of Confederate prisoners of war.
At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Beall resigned his commission and was appointed as a captain of cavalry in the Confederate Army. Beall served in the Trans-Mississippi Department under General Earl Van Dorn early in the war and was appointed brigadier general in the spring of 1862. Beall was placed in command of the Confederate cavalry forces at Corinth, Mississippi. Beall then commanded a brigade of troops from Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. At the Siege of Port Hudson, the Confederate forces surrendered on July 9, 1863, and Beall was taken as a prisoner of war. He was imprisoned at Johnson's Island on Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio.
Beall died on July 25, 1883, in McMinnville, Tennessee. He is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.
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Since commencing this letter I learn that General Beall's course of conduct in New York has been so conspicuous and offensive that the Secretary of War has ordered his sign to be taken down. General Paine has also been directed to suspend his parole and take him in custody till the cotton arrives. The selection of General Beall was unfortunate, for he seems disposed to make all the trouble he can. His parole will be renewed the moment the cotton reaches New York. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton suspended Beall's parole and placed him in Fort Lafayette in New York Harbor as a prisoner of war until the cotton safely arrived from Mobile, Alabama. He was finally released from Federal custody on August 2, 1865. After the war, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri and became a general commission merchant.
Born near Port Gibson, Mississippi, Van Dorn graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1842 being ranked 52 out of 56. He fought in the Mexican-American War and against the Seminoles and Comanches, and this experience led to his rapid advancement in the Confederate States Army, rising from colonel in March 1861 to major general in September. In this capacity, he commanded the Confederate forces at the Battle of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern) in Pea Ridge, Arkansas. The Confederates' defeat at this battle enabled the Union to control the state of Missouri. His incompetence at the Battle of Corinth, Mississippi, in October 1862 led to another Union Army victory.
Van Dorn was more effective as a cavalry commander. His action destroying Union supplies at Holly Springs, Mississippi, in December 1862, seriously disrupted Ulysses S. Grant's first Vicksburg Campaign. He was also successful at Thompson's Station, Tennessee, in March 1863.
It was Van Dorn's reputation as a womanizer, not a Union bullet, that led to his death. On May 7, 1863, he was shot at his headquarters in Spring Hill, Tennessee, by Dr. George Peters, who claimed that Van Dorn had carried on an affair with his wife. Peters was later arrested by Confederate authorities, but was never tried for the killing. Van Dorn is buried at Port Gibson, Mississippi.
